Vertex Ventures raises $541 million to back Indian startups and SEA — focus on women-led firms

“Our earlier funds have had superior cash-on-cash returns and are outperforming benchmarks. This track record led most of our investors from VVSEAI Fund IV to return as investors in VVSEAI Fund V and increase their allocation. In addition, we expanded our total investor base significantly and are happy to welcome all our Limited Partners,” said Ben Mathias, Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.

The fund corpus includes a dedicated co-investment envelope of $50 million for partnering with the parent fund in women-led startups. Vertex Ventures said that the strategic move is in line with its commitment to fostering more opportunities for women entrepreneurs, as over 35 percent of the startups in its Fund IV portfolio already have at least one female founder.

“This fundraise is a testament to the quality of opportunities in the India and Southeast Asian markets. The macro opportunity is palpable, but what excites us more is the continuing maturity of the ecosystem and the quality of founders we are working with in building category-defining companies. Especially in India, we are working with founders tackling very interesting problems across socioeconomic strata in India and building great products for the world,” said Piyush Kharbanda, General Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.

VVSEAI invests in high-growth startups seeking their early round of institutional venture capital funding in Southeast Asia and India, with a primary focus on Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and other emerging hubs across the region.

Vertex has made more than 80 investments and will continue its strategy of investing in early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies in sectors such as enterprise technology, financial technology, consumer internet, digital health, sustainability, mobility and others.

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India is one of the six major funds in Vertex’s global network of venture capital funds, with a total of 22 investing staff across its offices in Singapore, Bangalore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and Gurgaon. The firm’s portfolio includes Licious, KukuFM, Kissht, Ace, Kapiva, BeepKart, Certa, Signzy and Ayu Health.

Vertex Ventures' new fund comes at a time when a number of VCs, especially early-stage investors have raised large sums of money in the recent past. Since 2022, VCs like Peak XV, 3One4 Capital, Accel, Elevation Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, and Matrix Partners, among others, have either raised or launched India-dedicated funds.